Banda Aceh quiet after mass gathering<\/p>\n
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Capital Banda Aceh was quiet on Sunday
\nfollowing the peaceful Mass Gathering for Peace (SIRA RAKAN)
\nwhich ended the previous day.<\/p>\n
Stores in several traditional markets here resumed business on
\nSunday after two days of closure due to the mass gathering.<\/p>\n
However, prices of basic commodities remained high as supplies
\nwere scarce because there had been no single public
\ntransportation vehicle in operation over the past two days.<\/p>\n
As of Sunday, public buses and minivans serving routes to and
\nfrom Banda Aceh had yet to become fully operational, forcing
\nresidents to continue using sea or air transportation to reach
\ncertain places.<\/p>\n
Residents in Pidie regency said the police continued with
\ntheir sweeping operations to check documents on passing vehicles,
\nincluding ambulances. They also said that barbed wire barricades
\nwere still seen on the streets in front of police and military
\noffices.<\/p>\n
The police had intensified their operation since Wednesday to
\nblock access to the city, aimed at preventing residents across
\nthe province from attending the mass gathering.<\/p>\n
Hospitals, activists and police gave different figures on the
\nnumber of fatalities during the two-day mass gathering. The
\npolice said 14 people had been killed in separate incidents,
\nwhile the gathering's organizer, the Information Center for Aceh
\nReferendum (SIRA), claimed that 32 people had died.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post correspondent citing hospital records said
\nthat the death toll reached 27 following the discovery of six
\nbodies on Saturday, bearing severe wounds in Idi Rayeuk district,
\nEast Aceh regency.<\/p>\n
East Aceh District Military Commander Lt. Col. Deni K. Irawan
\nsaid on Sunday that two of the six bodies were military officers
\nclad in civilian clothes, who had been missing since Thursday,
\nwhile on their way from Langsa in East Aceh to Lhokseumawe in
\nNorth Aceh.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile on Saturday evening, six passengers were injured
\nwhen the police fired shots at two cars during an operation on
\nJl. Teuku Nyak Makam in Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"There were dozens of officers, all armed with long rifles. I
\nwas ordered to stop the car but then another officer fired shots
\nat our car. My wife was shot in the stomach, waist and thigh,\"
\nIswar Yusuf told reporters at the Zainoel Abidin General Hospital
\nin Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
The officers' violent actions have compelled at least 15 non-
\ngovernmental organizations and students organizations to issue a
\njoint statement to sue Aceh Police chief Brig. Gen. Chaerul
\nRasyidi and all personnel of the Police Special Operation Cinta
\nMeunasah as suspects over human rights violations.<\/p>\n
\"We demand that an independent commission be set up to audit
\nhumanitarian violations by the Indonesian security personnel
\nagainst Acehnese who wanted to participate in the mass gathering
\nfor peace in Banda Aceh,\" executive director of the Coalition of
\nNon-Governmental Organizations on Human Rights Maimul Fidar said
\non Sunday.<\/p>\n
The coalition also urged the Geneva-based Joint Forum
\nHumanitarian Pause for Aceh to suspend political dialog between
\nrepresentatives of the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh
\nMovement (GAM), slated for mid November, until the results of the
\ninvestigation by the independent commission are made public.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Head of GAM representatives at the Joint Committee
\non Security Modality (KBMK), Amni bin Ahmad Marzuki, said no GAM
\nrepresentatives would attend the political dialog in Geneva,
\nslated for Nov. 16 and Nov. 17 on the grounds that the Indonesian
\nsecurity forces continued killing the Acehnese.<\/p>\n
Amni also urged that the Indonesian government should withdraw
\nmilitary\/police reinforcement troops from the province as they
\nwere behind the prolonged violence.<\/p>\n
Recently, a GAM representative of the Monitoring Team on
\nHumanitarian Action Ganni Nurdin told The Jakarta Post that the
\nIndonesian government representatives had left KBMK office at
\nHotel Kuala Tripa in Banda Aceh two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
He said he deplored the departure of the representatives as
\nthere were now only representatives of GAM and the Henry Dunnant
\nCenter who are monitoring the situation in the province. (50\/lup)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/banda-aceh-quiet-after-mass-gathering-1447893297",
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